Non-volatile memory such as flash memory is widely employed in consumer electronics and storage applications, e.g., USB flash drivers, portable media players, cell phones, digital cameras, etc. Two common types of flash memory include NOR and NAND flash memories. NOR flash memory provides a full address and data interface that allows random access to any location, whereas NAND flash memory typically provides faster erase and write times, higher density, and lower cost per bit. Since many applications rely upon fast and random accessibility to data, products have been developed to combine the advantages of both NOR and NAND flash memories.
An example of such a product is a NAND flash memory device having an embedded controller on a single integrated circuit (IC). This type of device employs a NAND flash array to store and access data at a high speed with reduced cost and size. Further, control logic accesses and writes to the flash array in response to commands, thereby providing an interface with greater accessibility to data (e.g., comparable to that of a NOR flash memory device).